Note: This story was written in April of 2008 and I've since met my goal of losing 100 pounds by my birthday! I struggled for a bit, gained about 15 pounds back and now have moved on to a new goal of losing 50 pounds by my brother's wedding on June 12. You can read more about that here.

One of my favorite movies is "When Harry Met Sally..." and one of my favorite bits is when Sally is crying about turning 40:

Sally: And I'm gonna be forty.Harry: When?Sally: Someday.Harry: In eight years.Sally: But it's there. It's just sitting there like this big dead end.

She is, of course, sobbing as she says this.

When I first saw that movie I was 20 years old and 40 seemed so far away. Twice my age! Now it feels like I've barely blinked and my own "someday" is right around the corner. Just 18 months away -- and it's freaking me out!

I had been feeling this compulsion to do something to mark the milestone, especially since I have the very cool birthday of 09/09/09 to countdown to! I think wanting to do something special for a milestone is fairly common. One of my girlfriends is hiking the Appalachian Trail to mark 40. Another is determined to go to Australia.

So I found my own personal mission--to lose at least 100 pounds.

It came to me a couple of months ago. When I left work to get lunch I started to follow the same path as always: down the elevator, out the loading dock, right turn to the cafe for whatever hot entree they've got featured-chicken parmesan or spaghetti and meatballs or roast beef and mashed potatoes.

And then I stopped. It would be just as easy to go left to the nearby Subway sandwich shop instead. I've always liked Subway... lots of choices on the "healthy" section of their menu. And as silly as it may sound, I knew if I made that turn, I'd be taking a strong first step toward making significant changes in my life.

And I needed to make those changes... because I'd seen a number on the scale that morning that I'd never wanted to see.

Just one step would be a start...

I knew it would be start that I needed because I'm a creature of habit and every new habit starts with that first change. I'd been following the same lunch routine for a good 6 months. And I knew it could be just as simple to establish a new and healthier routine. If I just made that turn and took that step.

So I did!

That night I told Mark, the personal trainer I'd been working with (to little avail since I hadn't made any significant changes to my eating), that I wanted to spend the last 10 minutes of our session talking about how I was going to lose 100 pounds. We came up with a plan and starting that day, I felt a brand new focus.

I've struggled with my weight virtually my whole life. It's a familiar story--I've tried every diet and lost 20 pounds here, gained 30 there. Lost another 50. Gained another 60. And so on. Since I was 12 years old. And now I'm 38. I can't bring myself to admit in public how much I weigh, though I'll put out there that I can definitely stand to lose more than 100 pounds.

One thing I've realized is that a huge part of losing weight is being in the right state of mind to do it. Anyone can eat right and exercise and make the necessary changes to lose weight--if they set their mind to it. But there are a million reasons that we don't set our minds to it.

Luckily for me, on that particular Monday, I felt like I had a million reasons to go ahead and do it. And two months later, I've lost 28 pounds and it feels really, really great. And while in a lot of ways, it's a lot of hard work, in a lot of other ways, it's so much easier than I imagined.

I'm going to write here about my journey over the next year and a half for a few reasons:

In the past, I've tried to keep my dieting efforts to myself. That has clearly not worked for me! So, I'm going in the opposite direction and telling EVERYONE!

I think the extra accountability will really help me. Will I want to binge on all the ice cream in my freezer if I know I'll have to come clean about it here?

If I'm writing every week, it will help me to really focus on what I'm doing. If I binge on all that ice cream, at least I'll be thinking about it and trying to figure out why as I write about it.

I hope this will be a resource for other people. So many of us have the same problems and issues; we should be sharing the same solutions! I'm confident that I'm going to be successful this time... but, I don't want to be just an "after" story. I want to tell my story "in progress" so we can learn from all this together. I'm no expert, but, I have a lot of resources and know a lot of smart people-and I want to share.

I kind of stalled writing this first entry. I wanted to make sure I was in for the long haul before I ended up humiliating myself by starting with a bang and giving up in a few weeks. Now that I've committed with these words on the screen, I'll be back to write more every week!

Week 11

Sometimes you're sticking to your plan and working hard to push towards your goals... and the scale just doesn't reflect results. Here are some tips to help you celebrate your successes no matter what the scale says.

Weeks 13 and 14

I had the best intentions going into the Memorial Day weekend, but never quite felt like I was hitting my stride and keeping strong. A cookie here... some chips there... too much cheese a little later. I was sure I'd record a gain at my weigh-in -- And I did. Now what?

Week 15

This week was about re-evaluating, re-focusing, and re-thinking my weight loss plan. I even bought a couple of new diet books to help me along the way! (Click through for a sample recipe from the "Hungry Girl" book.)

Week 27

What if, worst case scenario, I don't lose another pound? I feel great. I look better than I did six months ago. I'm making healthy choices. But, how do I make sure that, no matter what, I don't go back to where I was?

Week 30

Last week I gave myself a birthday present -- a break from my efforts to watch my food and exercise. I indulged and enjoyed myself and, at the end of the week, I was more than ready to get back to my improved habits and focus again on my goals.

Week 35

Any slowing down of your weight loss can be frustrating, but I had an experience this weekend that made me feel so good that I don't really care that I haven't lost anything new as long as I'm maintaining at this low (for now!) point.

Week 36

This is a scary time of the year - and I don't mean just because of Halloween! After Halloween, there's Thanksgiving... and then all sorts of parties in December for Christmas and Hanukkah... and then New Year's. So, how to get through?

Weeks 37 & 38

Since I'll be staying with friends and family during the holidays and won't have access to a gym like I'm used to, I asked one of my personal trainers to give me some tips for exercising effectively without special equipment.

Week 39

Snacking doesn't have to derail your dieting efforts. In fact, if you do it right, snacking is an important part of a successful weight loss program. Click through for suggestions on how to get from meal to meal with the help of tasty and healthy snacks.

Week 43

When I first emailed Laura and Danny to ask them for their tips for staying focused through the holiday season, they both responded with a version of "eat now and worry about it later!" But then, after a guilty laugh, they came through with more specific help.

Week 47

I'm not any kind of expert and I certainly can't promise that anyone who was to follow my meal plan would necessarily lose weight, but I thought it might be interesting to see and might also give you some ideas regarding your own plans.

Week 48

One of the things we need to keep in mind as we struggle with weight loss efforts is that if it were simply a matter of discipline and burning more calories than we eat, so many fewer people would be overweight.

Week 50

Looking back at the flat line in my weight tracker for the past 2 months, I'm pleasantly surprised by my success in sticking to my program and not giving up. After countless tries, this is absolutely the longest time I've ever stuck to a weight loss program: 50 weeks!

Week 51

I'm definitely a big snacker. I probably eat something every 2-3 hours every day so if I don't plan and count, it's very easy to overeat without even realizing it. My main work strategy is to keep a fully stocked snack drawer so I have good choices within reach.

Week 52

I've now been at this a full year -- and I've never stuck to a weight loss program for this long. At the risk of sounding repetitive, I'm going to talk about the two things that I think have made this attempt to lose weight different from the countless other attempts I've made throughout my life: making a lifestyle change and seeking out support.

Week 54

As I try to change things up in my weight loss program and also try to keep things interesting in this blog, I thought I might spend some time periodically reviewing different meal plans or food delivery programs. Here is my first experiment!

Week 55

One of the things I'm grappling with is how to lose weight on a budget. It's easy to ignore mounting bills and waning bank accounts when you rationalize that you can't put a cost on being healthy. But they are ways to make a healthy lifestyle more cost effective.

Week 56

When I started writing this, I was disappointed in myself. But now that I've thought about my friends and talked to them about their progress, I'm inspired and ready to get back in gear. If I can do this, anybody can do this. We can all do this.

Week 64

The changing weather can be a mixed blessing when it comes to weight loss. On the one hand, the prospect of shorts and bathing suits can cause stress and panic - but on the other, fresh fruits and vegetables are bountiful and exercise always seems more fun when it's outside!

Week 65

Usually I'm all about the big picture and lifestyle changes and putting things in perspective. But right now that is sort of overwhelming me and I think I need to actually just focus on some very simple things that will make me feel in control again.

Week 78

I'm still struggling with sticking to my program right now. But I did lose weight this week! I think the big difference is that no matter what I'm doing as far as eating, I've been consistently very good about sticking to my gym regimen. Here are some tips for finding and going to a gym.

Week 79

I've never want to get so caught up in the numbers on the scale and trying to reach certain goals that I sacrifice to the point that I'm resentful, so there was no good reason to change my behavior drastically just to make a goal this week.

Week 81

I've been trying to lose weight for a lot of reasons - for better health, for comfort and, admittedly, for how I look. And suddenly it felt like I had been working so hard and making so many sacrifices for so little return.

Week 85

I didn't want to write this week. And once I decided to go ahead and write, I didn't want to report my weight gain. And then I decided it was okay to admit it... everybody has rough patches... even me.

Week 86

Getting back on track this week was all about setting new goals. I realized that I don't do well with "negative goals": ie, "I don't want to gain this week." I really need forward moving goals, such as "I want to lose 10 pounds by October 31st " or "I want to lose 25 pounds by the end of the year."

Week 87

I really need to work on keeping focused on my goals and remembering that my body doesn't know when there is a special event or other excuse to eat something extravagant - it only knows calories-in and calories-out.

Week 91

As far as I'm concerned, the difference between a plateau and maintenance is all mental. To me, a plateau is frustrating and feels a little like a failure, while maintenance is its own kind of struggle, but ultimately is a success.

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